Consolidation 2 - Day 13

Everett has been doing great this week, spending every day playing in the playroom and running around the halls of 9B making new friends.  Given the choice between kids his own age and older kids, he always picks the older kids to follow around and play with...especially when those older kids happen to be girls:)  He has made at least 3 girlfriends this week, and not one of them was younger than 5!

This morning Everett had to get platelets and later today he will be getting blood as well.  The chemo has wiped his platelets and red cells out.  Without transfusions of platelets and blood, he is at risk for bruising, bleeding,  and extreme fatigue, and even a minor fall could result in internal bleeding.  We have already noticed new bruises and petechiae (tiny pinpoint bruises), so it's a relief to know that the transfusion will help boost his platelet count a bit until his bone marrow recovers and begins producing them again.

In addition to low platelets and RBC's, Everett's white cells are also extremely low (also the result of the chemo doing its job).  As a result, he is at risk for infection and even the common cold could land him in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.  This means we have to be extra vigilant to avoid germs and whenever we leave the safety of 9B, Everett has to wear a mask, something he isn't usually thrilled about, but is willing to do as long as he "can go too".

With all the risks associated with Everett's low blood counts, it's funny to think that this drop in counts is what we hope and wait for.  The chemo does its job by killing rapidly dividing cells. We pray every day that the chemo will kill any lingering leukemia, and at the same time it is killing healthy cells as well.  When we see his counts dropping, we know the chemo is doing its job, and soon his counts will start to recover and we can go home.

After 13 days inpatient, Everett's blood counts are close to bottoming out, so now the wait for counts to recover begins.  We need his counts to consistently rise before they will let him go home.  Everett and I have been here for almost 2 weeks, with a few visits from dad and brother so we are extremely anxious to get Everett home so we can resume some sort of "normal" life.  I'm heading home today to be with Avery, and John will stay here at the hospital with Everett until the doctors give him the green light to go home.  Please say a prayer tonight that Everett's counts will start to climb so John and Everett can be home in time for Father's Day.

Much Love,
Val